Act IV.v-vii and V Reading Guide to Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Scene:
Original or
Summary?
Scenes 1-3:
summary
Scene iv:
Read closely
and watch
Scene Five:
Essential Questions/Big Ideas
1. Read through the summaries of Act IV, scenes 1-4
2. Read and annotate closely scene iv.
3. Watch the soliloquy (video link below), annotate closely, and answer 2 of
the following guiding questions THROUGHLY on a separate sheet of
paper---cite evidence for your thoughts and be certain to comment upon any
quotes you include (this will count as a lit circle grade):
1) Which lines, show direct comparisons with other sentiments, which
Hamlet have expressed before about man? Quote those similar lines and
explain their significance.
2) C/C the tone in Hamlet's 4th soliloquy with the tone of his last (3rd "To
be..." soliloquy. Be specific and cite support for your thoughts.
3) What is the significance of Fortinbras in this scene and in Hamlet's
speech? How has he affected Hamlet? How does this soliloquy bring
Fortinbras' function as a foil to the forefront?
4) We have seen throughout the play that heroic couplets make powerful
endings to significant scenes. Discuss the meaning of the heroic couplet in
scene iv. What is Hamlet saying? Why does he say it? What can we
logically infer/predict from these lines, regarding Hamlet's behavior in
future scenes?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM75cYXuiWY
Character Analysis (remember: a character analysis requires you to find 3
quotes, which demonstrate traits—the guiding questions are to help you
focus your analysis and choices in quotes)
Claudius—esp lines 80-103
Ophelia—what has happened to her and why? (Go beyond the obvious)
Laertes—why is he enraged? How does his sister’s condition affect
him? What strikes you about his situation, in comparison to Hamlet’s?
Relevant
Literary
techniques to
look for
Hamlet’s final
soliloquy
Other
Subplot: What
is Fortinbras
up to in this
scene? How
does his role as
a foil become
blaringly
clear?
Foil!!!
Symbolism
(Ophelia’s
flowers)
Extra Credit:
What is the
significance of
the flowers
Ophelia gives to
each character
(lines 204-210)?
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Act IV.v-vii and V Reading Guide to Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Scene vii
Key Quotes:
“O, this is the
poison of deep grief.” (IV.v.80)
Character
Analysis:
Laertes—note his contrast to Hamlet
“poor
Ophelia/Divided
from
herselfinformation
and her fair judgment/Without which
Claudius—note
how he
controls
we
pictures or mere beasts” (IV.v.91-94)
Keyare
Quotes:
“That drop of blood that’s calm proclaims me bastard,/Cries “cuckold” to
my father, brands the harlot/ Even here between the chaste unsmirched
brow/ Of my true mother.” (IV. v. 130-134)
“To hell, allegiance!...Let come what comes, only I’ll be revenged/Most
thoroughly for my father.” (IV.v.149-154)
EQ’s for Reflection:
1. Look for evidence of the leitmotif of poison and ears. How is it used
in this scene?
2. How Does Ophelia’s Madness compare with Hamlet’s feigned
madness? Why does she go insane? (Think beyond the obvious.)
Leitmotif:
poison, ears
Personification
Each has its
own meaning,
and
“Diagnosing
Shakespeare
Ophelia
chose
each
Syndrome”—
purposefully
Annotate andfor
each character.
Analyze these
symbols and
hypothesize his
intent for each
gift and why it
is
appropriate….
MUCHO EC!!!
(the better the
writing, the
higher the
points)
3. How does Laertes prove himself to be a foil for Hamlet?
4. Why have the people turned to Laertes?
Scene vi:
Summary
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Act IV.v-vii and V Reading Guide to Shakespeare’s Hamlet
“The Queen his mother/Lives almost by his looks” (IV.vii.13-14)
Double-Entry
Journal—quotes
with your
Dramatic Irony reactions/thoug
hts/interpretatio
Symbolism:
ns
orchids;
purple; water
Simile
“The other motive/Why to a public count I might not go/Is the great love
the general gender bear him” (IV.vii. 18-20)
“But let him come./It warms the very sickness in my heart/That I shall live
and tell him to his teeth/’Thus didst thou’” (IV.vii.60-63)
“And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe,/But even his mother
shall uncharge the practice/and call it accident” (IV.vii.74-76)
“Laertes, was your father dear to you? Or are you like the painting of a
sorrow,/A face without a heart?” (IV.vii.122-125)
EQ’s for Reflection:
1. How does Claudius justify to Laertes his inaction against Hamlet and his
crime? (i.e. What does he say would happen if he were to act against
Hamlet?)
2. Closely Read What Claudius says to Laertes in lines 126-146… WHY
does Shakespeare have Claudius give Laertes this speech? What is the
larger significance in the overall meaning of the play?
3. What does Ophelia’s crown of “long purples” represent? Why might
Shakespeare have chosen to give her a death by drowning? Consider what
we know from HTRLLAP, what could a dip in water represent? How does
this convey Shakespeare’s attitude towards the girl?
4. Now that Laertes is left fatherless and sisterless, how do you think the
rest of the play will unfold? Explain and justify
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Act IV.v-vii and V Reading Guide to Shakespeare’s Hamlet
Act V.i
Key Quotes:
“Alas, poor /Yorick! I knew him well, Horatio” (V.i.190-191)
“To what base uses we may return, Horatio!/Why may not imagination
trace the noble dust of/Alexander till he find it stopping a bunghole?”
(V.i.209-211)
“I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers/Could not with all their
quantity of love Male up my sum.” (V.i.285-287)
Allusion
“The
Undiscovere
Hyperbole
d Country”
pp 323Alliteration/Ana 325—
phora
Annotate
and DEJ
Heroic Couplet
“Woo’t weep, woo’t fight, woo’t fast, woo’t tear thyself/ Woo’t drink up
eisel, eat a crocodile?” (V.i.291-292)
“Let Hercules himself do what he may,/ The cat will mew, and dog will
have his day.” (V.i.310-311)
Act V.ii
EQ’s
1. Study Hamlet’s discussion of Yorick: What is the prince really
saying here? What aspect of human nature is conveyed in this
scene?
2. What is the Doctor’s (priest’s) attitude towards Ophelia’s burial
(lines 233-242 and 244-247)
3. Why would Hamlet verbally attack Laertes for mourning his
sister?
4. In your opinion, did Hamlet truly love Ophelia?
Key Quotes
“They are not near my conscience. Their defeat/Does by their own
insinuation grow” (V.ii.65-66) –Compare to the comment he made about
Polonius’ death
“He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,/Popped between
the election and my hopes/Thrown out his angle for my proper life,/And
Review “A
Modern
Perspective”
pp. 307311—
Annotate
and DEJ
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Act IV.v-vii and V Reading Guide to Shakespeare’s Hamlet
with such cozenage—is it nor perfect conscience/To quit him with this
arm? (V.ii.72-76)
“ I am constant to my purposes. They follow the King’s pleasure
(V.ii.214-215) –WHAT!?!?!?!
“There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be/ now ‘tis
not to come; if it be not to come, it will be /now.” (V.ii.233-236) –a bit of
a different attitude towards death????
Dramatic Irony
Earnest
Jones’
Fruedian
interpretatio
n of Hamlet
--EC!!!
“I’ll be your foil, Laertes” (V.ii.272)
Film: Note changes in Hamlet’s attire (director’s interpretation)
1. How does Hamlet’s purpose seem affected in this last Act?
2. Why isn’t the father mentioned at all at the end of the play?
3. Why does Hamlet agree to fight Laertes at his uncle’s request?
4. What finally prompts his murder of the King? How does this
defy our original expectations?
5. Why is Hamlet heralded as a hero at the end of the play? In what
ways was he heroic?
What does Hamlet (the play) tell us about human nature?
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